


Dreamlike

by bulletsfrank, thatonedudewiththename



Category: Twenty One Pilots, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, College Student Mark, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 22:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5022106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bulletsfrank/pseuds/bulletsfrank, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonedudewiththename/pseuds/thatonedudewiththename
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watching the singer on stage was like staring into infinity, and Mark never wanted to look away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ayyyy more transferring from tumblr lmao

Mark sees the bony little guy on stage, happily swaying and playing a ukelele, of all instruments. His movements were shaky and strange, all fitting to the mess of sound being fitted together. The tan boy’s voice projected perfectly, echoing in the small venue with small shake at the ends of his words. “Oh, no.” He muttered underneath the loud bass to himself, his fist balling. “He's dreamlike."

“He’s dreamlike,” Mark said to himself again as his turn came up in the line of people waiting to talk to Tyler and Josh; Tyler was so lanky and aesthetically pleasing, and his voice was so soothing. “Like a dream,” he muttered aloud. Tyler locked eyes with him and smiled. 

“Hello,” He greeted. “What’s your name?" 

Mark’s throat closed up. "Uh-uhm, it’s Mark.” He managed to stammer. “It'sth nice to meet you.” He blushed—his speech impediment decided to come back right now of all times! Tyler, however, didn’t seem to take notice. 

“This is Josh,” He motioned to Josh, the drummer with blue hair. 

"And this is Tyler.” Josh patted Tyler on the shoulder. 

"It’s very nice to meet you.” They said simultaneously. Mark smiled a little and pushed his glasses up his nose, as they were slipping down due to the fact that he was SWEATING a lot more than he should be in 60 degree weather! 

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just that you’re very…” He ruffled his hair, looking between Tyler and the ground. “Very, uh, radiant." 

"Oh,” Tyler said, getting bumped on the arm by Josh. “Thank you.” 

Mark pushed up the sleeves of his flannel. “Sorry." 

Tyler laughed lightly. "No, it’s alright, that’s just an interesting compliment." 

"It’s all I could think of,” Mark said, “Other than dreamlike.” The last part was mumbled, but Tyler heard it, causing him to almost giggle. He reached out and patted Mark on the arm, holding him for longer than one would consider necessary. “So, Mark, is this your first concert?" 

"That obvious?" 

"A good guess." 

"Uhm, well, yeah, it is. I’m kind of doing research, I guess, on performers and their styles. That and it’s pretty fun." 

"What are you doing research for?”

Josh just watched the two of them talk, hands on his cheeks and an adoring expression on his face.

Mark’s time was up too soon. Tyler stopped Mark before he walked away. “I don’t… usually do this, like at all, but I really want to see you again, so…” He took out a pen and wrote something on Mark’s arm. Before Mark could question, he was moved out of the line by the next person. 

As Mark was walking back to his car, he read what was on his arm. “Dinner? Denny’s at 9”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kris and I wrote the beginning part, but after that it's all me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denny's date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weeps

Mark wasn’t sure why he had freshened up— well, he did know, for Tyler, but he didn’t know why. Like… It’s not like this was a date or anything. Right?  

When he saw Tyler walk into the Denny’s wearing a wide-cut sleeveless shirt with stars on it and skinny jeans tight enough to be sprayed on, Mark made a choking noise low in his throat and his eyes widened. Tyler spotted him and brightened considerably, bounding like a puppy over to him with a bright smile. “Hey! You made it!” He said. 

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?” Mark replied, hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Uhm, you look really nice, by the way.” 

“Oh! Uh, thank you. So do you.” Tyler held his left arm, then switching to scratching at the back of his neck. “I like the blue flannel.” 

“I felt like a change. I’m glad you like it.” 

The two of them smiled shyly at each other until the guy at the desk said, “Sirs? Would you like a seat?” 

Mark looked to the waiter. “Oh right, right.” 

“Booth or table?” 

“Booth.” Both Mark and Tyler said simultaneously; they looked at each other and chuckled lightly. 

The waiter gave them a strange look. “This way, gentlemen, please.” 

Mark and Tyler followed the waiter to their window booth and sat down across from each other, thanking the waiter while taking their menus. Mark glanced over his, not really interested in anything, instead opting to just order a lemonade.  

“Y'know, really the only reason I eat here is for their lava cakes,” Tyler confessed, setting his menu aside.  

“Are they any good?” Mark asked. “I was just going to order a lemonade.” 

“I think they are.” There was a pause. “Too much for just one person to eat, though. Josh usually shares with me. But…” Tyler leaned in suspiciously. “Since Josh isn’t here… Do you want to share one?” 

Mark laughed lightly at Tyler’s antics. “Sure! I’m down.” 

Relief seemed to seep into the edges of Tyler’s shining expression. He sat back a little and almost giggled. “Alrighty.”  

They chatted about nothing and everything while waiting for their food to arrive; Mark really enjoyed the way Tyler was so unnecessarily long-winded in the way he spoke, and how he would go off on tangents that made no sense at first but somehow managed to circle back to the original topic—it was like he thought in poetry all the time, and Mark loved it. His voice was beautiful and was lovely to listen to. Unwittingly, he cut Tyler off and sighed, “You’re so amazing.” 

Tyler coughed a little and his light brown cheeks turned red. “Uhm… Thank you.” 

Mark cringed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt you!” 

“It’s alright.” Tyler touched Mark’s hand. “It’s not a big deal.” 

At the contact, Mark jumped a bit and involuntarily pulled back, his heart rate speeding up. 

Tyler’s smile slowly fell from his face. “Sorry.” 

“No no! I-I– you just surprised me!” Mark placed his hand on Tyler’s. He was shaking a little bit- from nervousness, mostly. He looked into the milky brown eyes of Tyler and did his best to calm down. “I like you a lot. Like, a lot, you know?” 

The two men were so engrossed in each other that they didn’t hear or see the waiter set their lava cake on the table and then walk away. “You do?” Tyler asked, seeming to glow. 

Mark’s expression was so adoring it was almost disgusting. “Yeah!” 

Tyler was quiet a moment, then he leaned forward and requested in a whisper, “Is it ok if I kiss you right now?” 

Mark swallowed and hesitantly leaned in. “Only if I can kiss you afterwards.” 

“Deal.” 

Those last few inches were closed with a gentle touch of lips; Mark was so nervous, and apparently, so was Tyler, as he could feel the musician’s lips trembling against his own. After a few seconds, they both pulled away. Mark’s face was red. “Uh–uhm…”  

Tyler flicked his tongue over his bottom lip. “That was interesting.” 

“The… good kind of interesting?” 

“Yeah.” 

Relief. “Good.” 

After finally realizing that their food had arrived, they ate it together and then split the bill (even if it was unnecessary considering it was only eight dollars), leaving the diner together to stand side-by-side in the cold of the night. They were quiet, until Mark saw Tyler with his shoulders scrunched up. “Aren't you cold just wearing that tank top?” Mark asked with a slight frown. 

“Its part of my aesthetic.” Tyler joked, starting to shiver. 

Mark rolled his eyes as he took off his flannel—revealing his skin tight tee underneath—and gave it to the slightly shorter male, wrapping it around his bony shoulders. Tyler held onto it. 

“Thank you.” He said. 

“No prob, Bob.” 

Tyler laughed, the sound tinkling like silver bells. Mark loved it.  

Just then, Tyler’s phone went off- it was Josh, asking where he was. Tyler replied and then put his phone away. Mark watched him wistfully. “What now?” He questioned quietly. 

“I have to head back soon,” Tyler answered as he slipped his arms into the sleeves of Mark’s flannel. 

“Will I get to see you again?” Mark dreaded the answer. 

“Maybe. But we can still talk,” Tyler took out his mobile and waved it a little. “Texting and stuff.” 

“I’ll give you my number.”  

Tyler gave Mark his cell and Mark put his number in. Tyler smiled. “Let’s take a selfie for our contact icons.” He said. 

“Okie dokie.”  

They took one on Tyler’s phone first, Mark kissing Tyler’s cheek, then on Mark’s cell, with Tyler kissing his cheek. Looking at the pictures, they smiled and giggled, until Josh pulled up in his car. “Tyler! We gotta go, dude.” He yelled out the driver’s side window. 

“I’m coming.” Tyler called back. He gave Mark a kiss on the cheek and walked to the car—well, shuffled, really. Mark could hear Josh poking fun at his friend. 

When they’d drove off, Mark received a text. ‘We r going to be in detroit next. just a heads up’ 

Mark grinned like an idiot. ‘I’ll check my calendar’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark visits Tyler in Detroit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the late update! I had a bit of writers block.

When Mark finally arrived back home and managed to maneuver his way through the junk and clutter of the apartment he shared with his other two roommates and into his bedroom, he realized, shortly after he began to undress, that Tyler still had his flannel shirt. "Damn," he whispered; well, not much he could do about it now, and besides, he owned other flannels, so not like it was a huge impact on his wardrobe. Sound in that thought, he took off the rest of his clothes and tossed them somewhere on the floor—he was too tired to hang them up—and then walked to his bathroom to clean up.

Once he was comfortable in bed, he took out his phone and was about to set his alarm when he received a text message from Tyler. He smiled a little and opened it to find that it was a picture of Tyler cuddled up in his flannel shirt and in bed. The picture was kind of grainy due to the lack of light, but Mark could tell what it was and found himself curling up from giddiness. The text that Tyler had sent with the picture read, "its pretty warm"

Mark replied, "I'm glad you like it :-)"

"are you coming to detroit to see the concert?" Tyler asked.

Mark twisted up his mouth in thought; classes were on break for now and wouldn't be back on for another week or so, which was plenty of time for him to finish his report... guess he could take a break and drive out there. But... "I dont have tickets" He told him.

"i can get u a backstage pass dont worry :)"

That's settled, then. "Yeah I can see you! I dont have classes for another week"

"cool. u should get some sleep college boy"

Mark laughed quietly at the nickname. "I'm pretty tired. goodnight tyler :-)"

"night mark" And then Tyler sent a star emoji.

With a sigh, Mark locked his phone, set it on the nightstand, and then rolled over to sleep.

*

Morning came too soon and Mark woke up feeling more tired than when he went to sleep; upon seeing the time—8am—he flopped back onto his bed to try and catch another few hours of rest, but then his phone went off, signaling that he had a text. He groaned and felt around for it, finding his phone and bringing it up to his face—it was Tyler. Almost instantly he felt better about being awake so early and checked the message. "gm <3" It read.

"Morning! how are you?" Mark replied; looks like he was getting up now after all.

"ok, you?"

"Still a little sleepy, but some coffee will fix that" 

Mark got up out of bed and shuffled to his closet to get dressed, deciding to wear a hoodie today since he was going to be in Michigan. As he was changing, he read Tyler's reply. "detroit is pretty cold today" 

"I figured it would be, I got my hoodie"

"i have your flannel so i think ill be ok"

Mark splashed some water on his face and then squeezed some toothpaste into his toothbrush, beginning to brush his teeth while replying, "I forgot u had it until I came home and was changing lol. I think it suites you :-)"

"i think so too"

"Has anybody said anything about it?"

"josh was joking about it earlier but no nobodys said anything"

"What was he saying?"

"just that he didnt know we were already at the sharing clothes phase or whatever"

Mark laughed past the toothpaste in his mouth, almost making himself choke. He spit in the sink, replying, "Sounds like something my roommates would say lmao"

He rinsed his mouth out with water and patted his face, running his hands through his hair to style it (somewhat). Now refreshed, he walked out of his room and smacked right into one of his roommates. "Ack!" They cried, stumbling backwards.

"Jack!" Mark said, grabbing onto Jack's arm to steady himself. "Sorry, I didn't see you!"

"It's alright! Shoulda been watchin' where I was goin'." Jack told him, straightening up and looking Mark over with furrowed brows. "What're ye doin' up so early?"

Jack's Irish accent was always more obvious in the morning, at least Mark thought so. It took him a second to process what he was saying. "Uhm, I'm driving to Detroit to visit a friend." He answered.

"Detroit? Who ye got livin' t'ere?" 

Both men made their way to the kitchen to eat breakfast, Mark saying, "A friend. His name is Tyler." 

Jack nodded, making a noise of agreement. "Uh huh... Well, I'm headin' t'ere too, t'a meet up wit' someone, so howsa'bout we go together?"

Mark did a half-nod half-shrug in response. "Sure, why not. Just let me get some breakfast, then we can go."

"I was actually goin'ta get somet'in' on the road."

"Or we can do that." 

Mark texted Tyler—who hadn't replied to his previous message yet—that he was on his way to Detroit and would be seeing him in a few hours, then grabbed his keys and headed out to his car with Jack.

 

They took a break at the halfway mark of their trip to stretch and use the bathroom at a rest stop; Jack went for a jog around the place while Mark checked the notifications on his phone—nothing terribly important, and Tyler still hasn't replied to his messages past an "ok", so he locked his phone again and decided to try and catch up with Jack on the trail.

Fifteen minutes later and they were back on the road with only two hours left in their journey; thankfully Detroit wasn't far from Cincinnati, or else Mark would've gone insane listening to Jack shout everything he was thinking. Like, yeah, Mark was talking a lot, too, but Jack was a loud fucker and if Mark wasn't his roommate and used to his antics, he'd have murdered Jack back at the rest stop.

After another two and a half hours, they arrived at where Jack, and, coincidentally, Mark needed to be to meet with their friends. "What a coincidence t'at we're all meetin' at t'e same place!" Jack shouted as he jumped around and did semi-splits in the air. 

Mark chuckled at his antics. "Yeah, it's weird. I told Tyler I was here." He told him.

"I told my friend I was here, too!!" Jack looked ahead and broke out into a big smile when he saw— "Josh!!" He yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

Mark glanced to where Jack was staring and saw both Tyler and the drummer Josh walking out of the back of the venue, Josh with a big grin and jogging up to Jack, Tyler grinning at Mark and waving a little. Mark waved and smiled, picking up the pace of his stride to meet Tyler halfway. "Hey, uh...." He began, "Hi."

Tyler took one of Mark's hands and managed to look him in the eyes. "Hi." He mumbled.

Mark's cheeks felt warm, either from being flustered or from the sun on his face, he didn't know. "I've missed you, Tyler."

Tyler chuckled lightly and squeezes the hand in his. "It hasn't even been a day."

Mark scratched the back of his neck and stared at the ground. "Yeah..."

Josh and Jack came over and clapped both of their shoulders, both of them bubbling over with energy—you could see it on their faces and feel it in their aura. "Cmon guys!! Let's go do something!!" Jack suggested rather loudly.

A huge grin on his face, Josh grabbed both Mark and Tyler by the upper arm and jumped up and down. "Let's go bro!"

Still holding hands, Mark and Tyler were pulled along after their friends and into the venue.


End file.
